NCJ Number
161582
Journal
Keepers' Voice Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1996) Pages: 43-45
Date Published
1996
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The future success or failure of corrections will depend to a great extent on the quality and educational levels of its employees; a G.I. Bill for correctional employees would provide corrections with the means to meet those challenges.
Abstract
For many reasons, such as low pay, long and odd hours, physical and social isolation, and unattractive and dangerous work environments, employment as a correctional officer shares many negative similarities with enlistment in the armed services, with few of the compensating benefits. Perhaps the most tangible benefit the Nation's armed services provide to attract and maintain quality recruits is the prospect of educational assistance, with all it entails for career advancement and post- enlistment opportunity. Roughly drafted, the G.I. Bill for correctional officers could provide any Department of Corrections personnel the financial support necessary to meet any educational costs not covered by Federal and State grants and scholarships that could be arranged for the student officer. Since each student's aid equation would vary with respect to total income, family composition, and program costs, a systemwide program cost is difficult to project. A $500 annual tuition stipend is a conservative estimate of the proposed costs. The overall savings produced by a better educated and more stable work force that would result from increased organizational effectiveness and efficiency, while reducing or at least holding steady operational costs during periods of increased demand, will more than offset the program's cost. A 20-item bibliography